Powered arthroscopic surgical instruments typically include a rigid, stationary outer tube within which a rigid inner tube is rotated by a motor. A cutting implement, such as a blade or abrading burr, is disposed on the distal end of the inner tube. Tissue or bone is exposed to the cutting implement through an opening in the distal end of the outer tube, and tissue or bone fragments cut by the rotating blade or burr are drawn through the interior of the inner tube along with irrigating fluid by the use of suction applied at the proximal end of the instrument.
A motorized attachment engages a hub, typically on the inner tube, and rotates the inner tube within the outer tube for providing cutting movement and force. The attachment also incorporates a suction attachment for evacuating cut matter from a surgical extraction site through the hollow tubes. Several surgical instruments of various complementary functions are often employed in a surgical field within a patient for performing surgical operations at the surgical site, one function of which is the controlled cutting and evacuation of tissue and bone fragments.